Melanerpes carolinus

• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Physical Description

Habitat

Deciduous forests and wooded areas are the favorite habitat of this woodpecker.

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 2,370 meters (0 to 7,776 feet).[1]

Ecology: List of Habitats : 1.4 Forest - Temperate 1.6 Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland

Biology

Diet

Their diet includes insects, fruits, nuts, and seeds. They are also known to be nest predators , commonly taking nestlings and eggs from other cavity nests. They use their stiff tail and distinctly arranged toes (two toes pointing forward and two toes facing backward ) to balance as they move up and down tree trunks and branches to pick prey off trees. They will also eat on the ground or from bird feeders in more urban areas.

Reproduction

The breeding season begins in mid-April, peaks later that month until mid-May, and extends to early July. This woodpecker prefers to nest in a variety of forested areas. The Red-bellied Woodpecker excavates its own nesting cavity or uses a cavity already made, usually less than 40 feet high in a snag , utility pole , or sometimes a nest box. The female lays 3-8 (usually 4-5) eggs that the adults incubate for 12-14 days. The male does most of the incubation during the night. The young are altricial and stay in the nest cavity until 24-27 days after hatching . Both adults care for the young while they are in the nest.

• Breeding Habitat : Woodland
• Nest Type: Cavity
• Clutch Size: 3-8
• Length of Incubation: 12-14 days
• Days to Fledge : 24-27
• Number of Broods: 1 in north, 2-3 in south

Migration

Nonmigratory

Taxonomy

Unambiguous Synonyms

1. Centurus carolinus carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758)
2. Centurus carolinus harpaceus Koelz, 1954
3. Centurus carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758)
4. Centurus carolinus perplexus Burleigh and Lowery, 1944
5. Centurus carolinus zebra (Boddaert, 1783)

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: June 24, 1996.

Similar Species

Golden-Fronted Woodpecker

Members of the genus Melanerpes

There are approximately 83 species in this genus:

M. angustifrons · M. aurifrons (Golden-Fronted Woodpecker) · M. aurifrons aurifrons (Golden-Fronted Woodpecker) · M. aurifrons canescens · M. aurifrons dubius · M. aurifrons grateloupensis · M. aurifrons hughlandi · M. aurifrons insulanus (Golden-Fronted Woodpecker) · M. aurifrons leei · M. aurifrons pauper · M. aurifrons polygrammus · M. aurifrons santacruzi · M. aurifrons turneffensis · M. aurifrons x · M. cactorum (White-Fronted Woodpecker) · M. candidus (White Woodpecker) · M. carolinensis · M. carolinus (Red-Bellied Woodpecker) · M. carolinus carolinus (Red-Bellied Woodpecker) · M. carolinus zebra · M. caymanensis · M. chrysauchen (Golden-Naped Woodpecker) · M. chrysauchen chrysauchen (Golden-Naped Woodpecker) · M. chrysauchen pulcher · M. chrysogenys (Golden-Cheeked Woodpecker) · M. chrysogenys chrysogenys (Golden-Cheeked Woodpecker) · M. chrysogenys flavinuchus · M. cruentatus (Tellow-Tufted Woodpecker) · M. cruentatus cruentatus (Yellow-Tufted Woodpecker) · M. cruentatus rubrifrons · M. erythrocephalus (Red-Headed Woodpecker) · M. erythrocephalus caurinus (Red-Headed Woodpecker) · M. erythrocephalus erythrocephalus (Red-Headed Woodpecker) · M. flavifrons (Yellow-Fronted Woodpecker) · M. flavigula · M. formicivorus (Narrow-Fronted Woodpecker) · M. formicivorus aculeatus · M. formicivorus albeolus · M. formicivorus angustifrons (Acorn Woodpecker) · M. formicivorus augustifrons · M. formicivorus bairdi (Acorn Woodpecker) · M. formicivorus flavigula · M. formicivorus formicivorus (Narrow-Fronted Woodpecker) · M. formicivorus lineatus (Acorn Woodpecker) · M. formicivorus martirensis (Acorn Woodpecker) · M. formicivorus striatipectus · M. herminieri (Guadeloupe Woodpecker) · M. hoffmanni (Hoffmann's Woodpecker) · M. hoffmannii (Hoffmann's Woodpecker) · M. hypopolius (Grey-Breasted Woodpecker) · M. lewis (Lewis's Woodpecker) · M. lewisi · M. portoricensis (Puerto Rican Woodpecker) · M. pucherani (Black-Cheeked Woodpecker) · M. pucherani perileucus · M. pulcher · M. pygmaeus (Red-Vented Woodpecker) · M. pygmaeus pygmaeus (Red-Vented Woodpecker) · M. pygmaeus rubricomus · M. pygmaeus tysoni · M. radiolatus (Jamaican Woodpecker) · M. rubricapillus (Red-Crowned Woodpecker) · M. rubricapillus paraguanae · M. rubricapillus rubricapillus (Red-Crowned Woodpecker) · M. rubricapillus seductus · M. rubricapillus subfusculus · M. rubrifrons · M. santacruzi · M. striatus (Hispaniolan Woodpecker) · M. subelegans · M. superciliaris (West Indian Red-Bellied Woodpecker) · M. superciliaris blakei · M. superciliaris caymanensis · M. superciliaris murceus · M. superciliaris nyeanus · M. superciliaris superciliaris (West Indian Red-Bellied Woodpecker) · M. uroptgialis · M. uropygialis (Brewster's Woodpecker) · M. uropygialis brewsteri (Gila Woodpecker) · M. uropygialis cardonensis · M. uropygialis fuscescens · M. uropygialis uropygialis (Brewster's Woodpecker) · M. wagleri

More Info

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Further Reading

• A bibliography of birds: with special reference to anatomy, behavior, biochemistry --. by Reuben Myron Strong. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1939 UND url p. 178.
• A checklist of the vertebrate animals of Kansas / George D. Potts, Joseph T. Collins. [Lawrence, Kan.]: Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas, 1991. ENG url p. 13.
• A manual of North American birds. By Robert Ridgway. Illustrated by 464 outline drawings of the generic characters. Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott Company, 1887. ENG url p. 293.
• A popular handbook of the birds of the United States and Canada, by Thomas Nuttall. Boston, Little, Brown, 1903. ENG url p. 424.
• A popular handbook of the ornithology of eastern North America. By Thomas Nuttall. Boston, Little, Brown, and Company, 1896. ENG url p. 448.
• Abstract of proceedings of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club of Philadelphia. [Philadelphia]Delaware Valley Ornithological Club. ENG url p. 12, p. 28, p. 42.
• Annual report / Entomological Society of Ontario. Toronto, The Society. ENG url p. 24.
• Asteroid notes. Northfield, Minn, Goodsell Observatory of Carleton College, 1934-1950. ENG url p. 146.
• BirdLife International. 2000. Threatened Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, U.K.
• BirdLife International. 2004 Threatened Birds of the World 2004. CD-ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, U.K.
• Birds in Kansas / Max C. Thompson and amp; Charles Ely. Lawrence, Kan.: University of Kansas, Museum of Natural History: c1989- ENG url p. 372, p. 373, p. 400.
• Birds of Washington and vicinity, including adjacent parts of Maryland and Virginia, by Mrs. L. W. Maynard, with introduction by Florence A. Merriam.. . Washington, D. C., 1898. ENG url p. 125, p. 200.
• Birds of village and field: a bird book for beginners, by Florence A. Merriam. Illustrated. Boston, Houghton, Mifflin and company, 1898. ENG url p. 211, p. 403.
• Bulletin - United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.];1877-1971. ENG url p. 311, p. 58.
• Bulletin of the Bird Club of Princeton University. Princeton, N.J.: The Club, 1901. ENG url p. 20, p. 54.
• Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). London: BM(NH) ENG url p. 234, p. 3.
• Bulletin of the scientific laboratories of Denison University. Granville, Ohio: [The University], 1885- ENG url p. 138.
• Catalogue of scientific papers, 1800-1900. Compiled by the Royal Society of London. London, C.J. Clay and Sons, 1867-1902 [etc.] Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1914-25. ENG url p. 246, p. 797.
• Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. London, 1874-98. ENG url p. 139, p. 171, p. 569.
• Catalogue of the Collection of Birds' Eggs in the British Museum / By E. W. Oates [and afterwards] by S. G. Reid [and] W. R. Ogilvie-Grant. London, 1901-12. ENG url p. 146.
• Catalogue of the fresh-water fishes of Africa in the British museum (Natural history).. . By George Albert Boulenger, F.R.S. London, Printed by order of the Trustees [by Taylor and Francis]1909-16. ENG url p. 29, p. 72.
• Catalogue of the specimens illustrating the osteology of vertebrated animals, recent and extinct, contained in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. London, 1891. ENG url p. 134.
• FWS/0BS. [Washington]Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Dept. of the Interior. ENG url p. 138, p. 139.
• Handbook of birds of the western United States, including the great plains, great basin, Pacific slope, and lower Rio Grande valley, by Florence Merriam Bailey, with thirty-three full-page plates by Louis Agassiz Fuertes, and over six hundred cuts in the Boston, Houghton, Mifflin and company, 1904. ENG url p. 218.
• History of the birds of Kansas. By N. S. Goss. Illustrating 529 birds. Topeka, Kan., G. W. Crane, 1891. ENG url p. 337.
• Jahrbücher des Nassauischen Vereins für Naturkunde. Wiesbaden: J.F. Bergmann, GER url p. 231.
• Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society. Chapel Hill, N.C. [etc.]Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society [etc.] ENG url p. 67.
• Katalog der Eiersammlung, nebst Beschreibungeh der aussereuropchen Eier. Berlin, R. Friedler and amp; Sohn, 1910. GER url p. 148.
• Katalog der Vogelsammlung in Museum der Senckenbergischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Frankfurt am Main, von Ernst Hartert. Abgeschlossen Mitte Januar 1891. Frankfurt a.M., Knauer, 1891. GER url p. 123.
• Key to North American birds. Containing a concise account of every species of living and fossil bird at present known from the continent north of the Mexican and United States boundary, inclusive of Greenland and lower California Boston, Estes and Lauriat, 1890. ENG url p. 880.
• Nests and eggs of North American birds; by Oliver Davie. Columbus [O.]Hann and amp; Adair, 1889. ENG url p. 221.
• Occasional papers of the California Academy of Sciences. San Francisco: California Academy of Sciences, ENG url p. 222.
• Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. [Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia] ENG url p. 129, p. 483, p. 553.
• Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. [Washington, Biological Society of Washington] ENG url p. 121, p. 238.
• Proceedings of the United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.] ENG url p. 637.
• The Great Basin naturalist. Provo, Utah, M.L. Bean Life Science Museum, Brigham Young University. ENG url p. 767.
• The Ohio journal of science. [Columbus, Ohio, The Ohio State University and the Ohio Academy of Science] ENG url p. 42, p. 421.
• The birds of Illinois and Wisconsin. Chicago, 1909. ENG url p. 518, p. 518, p. 757, p. 757.
• The birds of eastern North America known to occur east of the nineteenth meridian.. . by Charles B. Cory.. . Chicago, Printed for the Field Columbian Museum [by A. Mudge], 1899. ENG url p. 362.
• The birds of eastern North America: known to occur east of the ninetieth meridian / by Charles B. Cory. Chicago: Field Columbian Museum, 1899. ENG url p. 362.
• The code of nomenclature and check-list of North American birds adopted by the American Ornithologists' Union; being the report of the Committee of the Union on Classification and Nomenclature. New York, 1886. ENG url p. 217.
• The oist. Albion, N.Y.: Frank H. Lattin, 1886-1941. ENG url p. 84.
• The ornithology of Illinois / [by Robert Ridgway and S.A. Forbes]. Springfield, Ill., H.W. Rokker, printer, 1889-1895. ENG url p. 384.
• The ornithology of Illinois. Part I. Descriptive catalogue. By Robert Ridgway. Part II. Economic ornithology. By S. A. Forbes. Pub. by the authority of the state Legislature. Springfield, Ill., H. W. Rokker, printer, 1889-95. ENG url p. 24, p. 27, p. 384.
• The transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis. St. Louis: The Academy, 1860-1958. ENG url p. 126.
• Transactions of the Academy of Science of Saint Louis. [St. Louis, Academy of Science of St. Louis] ENG url p. 126, p. 278.
• Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science. Topeka, Kan.: W.Y. Morgan, 1903- ENG url p. 170.
• Transactions of the Maryland Academy of Science and Literature. Baltimore: The Academy, 1837. ENG url p. 313, p. 378.

Notes

Contributors

• BirdLife International 2004. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 18, 2008.
• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 and ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed March 17, 2007.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2007. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed March 17, 2007.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed March 18, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from provider.
• LepIndex: The Global Lepidoptera Names Index
• Opler, Paul A., Harry Pavulaan, Ray E. Stanford, Michael Pogue, coordinators. Butterflies and Moths of North America. Bozeman, MT: Mountain Prairie Information Node. March 26, 2007.
• Peterson, Alan P. Zoological Nomenclature Resource. Accessed June 19, 2009.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal December 04, 2007:

• Avian Knowledge Network, eBird
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility, Provincial Museum of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada. Birds
• Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Terrestrial vertebrate specimens
• New Brunswick Museum, NBM birds
• The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx River Bioblitz
• UNIBIO, IBUNAM, CNAV/Coleccion Nacional de Aves
• University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
• , Bird specimens

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 3854098
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-178176 ITS-178195
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 14086133
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 178176
• IUCN ID: 47302
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: ABNYF04170
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 286

Footnotes

1. Mean = 187.570 meters (615.387 feet), Standard Deviation = 150.200 based on 20,000 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]

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